Would you survive?
If government persecution hit your church, would your church survive? How would you survive?
What if going to church and owning property was attacked by the government? How would you have church or be the Church?
posted by Bob Carder @ 9:41 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Interesting question that I could write pages on because I've done a lot of long term cp work in closed countries.
Forget the building side of it for a second (buildings are an important issue, but not where I'm going with this). I saw in the closed countries I worked in that people weren't persecuted for believing in Jesus. The governments said people could believe whatever they wanted. But they were persecuted if they tried to associate with a body of believers. That was too public.
The question we wrestled with was this: We assume that Jesus is worth dying for, but is the Body of Christ worth dying for? If you're not persecuted for trusting in Jesus, but you are persecuted for associating with others who trust Jesus, is it worth it?
Dragonslayer, am I to assume that witnessing would be to public also? If so, then what's the point of being a follower of CHRIST? Is the church worth dying for? Yes,I believe she would be. Is not the Church, the Bride of CHRIST? Did not our SAVIOR give up HIS life for us?
D.Slayer and Gary, very interesting comments. I'm looking forward to hearing more from you and others on this one.
I believe the Church is worth dying for. Believing in Jesus can't be divorced from following Jesus, and we can't follow Jesus alone. Too much of following Jesus is about learning to relate to others in godly ways, and too much of our mission is tied to being a missional community that worships and lives out the grace, presence, and reign of God.
The church may be underground and 'camoflaged,' but trusting Jesus means joining the company of his children in love, fellowship, service, and worship.
If we're persecuted for identifying with the Body of Christ, then so be it.
Rick
If they killed a few of us off, the pretenders in the church would empty out for sure.
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